cider in just a minute and memo to cnn bosses, add brooke at cnn. i want to come back next year. >> and wolf blitzer begins now. afghanistan and a vow of revenge from the taliban after an american sole yes is accused of killing 16 civilians in cold blood. i'll speak exclusively this hour with the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, general john allen. and on this, the eve of crucial primaries in the deep south, mitt romney gets a big endorsement in an unlikely comedian. will that help him in two very tight races? and is president obama already in trouble? a new poll shows him neck-in-neck with his top gop rivals. james carville and david are standing by. we'll talk about that. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room."

a new wave of fury may be about to explode in afghanistan after a u.s. soldier allegedly walked out of his base and went on a house to house shooting rampage. 16 civilians are dead, nine of them children. military authorities say the soldier acted alone and turned himself in. vowing revenge for the killings, a statement from the taliban calls u.s. forces and i'm quoting, sick-minded american savages. u.s. officials are voicing deep sorrow. >> let me say that like many americans, i was shocked and saddened by the killings of innocent afghan villagers this weekend. we send our condolences to family who have lost their loved ones and to the people of

afghanistan. this is not who we are. and the united states is committed to seeing that those responsible are held accountable. >> let's go straight to kabul with sara sidner standing by. sara, walk us through what's going on where you are. >> this really completes, wolf, a terrible trifecta in the last couple of months. this incident following what appeared to be u.s. service members urinating on afghan bodies and then the burning of the koran by u.s. service members who said they did it mistakenly but that caused quite a fury in this country and left 40 people dead and now an incident that the nato forces say involved a u.s. service member who walked off a base in the early-morning hours sunday while it was still dark and went on a shooting rampage in two separate villages killing as many as 16 people, which the afghanistan officials say involved nine children and three

women. not far from a u.s. military outpost a disturbing scene. a dead toddler with a blood-stained face lies sandwiched between two dead men in the back of a pickup truck. in another truck, a blanket is pulled back to reveal the charred remains of two more people. these are just a few of the victims of the shooting rampage. one guy came in and pulled a boy from his sleep and shot him in this doorway and then they came back inside the room and put the gun in the mouth of another child and stomped on another boy, this mother says. u.s. officials including president obama, have all expressed their condolences and sadness but that has little means to the victim's families. a local minister said one family alone lost 11 family members in the incident. look at these bodies, they're all belonging to one family, this villager cries. men we want openly, barely able

to speak through their tears while investigators sifted through the grisly scene, picking up shell casings. the evidence the something terrible happened overwhelming. the floors and walls of these homes, stained with blood. as the day went on, the sorrow was replaced by anger at american forces. this base told us to come back to our villages. they said we won't bother you. this is your land and this is your own village. then those dogs come and grab us, another mother shouted. some of the villagers claim there was more than one soldier on the ground when the massacre happened around 2:00 in the morning on sunday. but the international security assistance forces refute that saying that this was the work of a single soldier who walked away from base and was acting alone. now, we do know that afghan officials have asked for this trial when it takes place, to take place on afghan soil.

there's been a response to that call from the pentagon, a spokesman telling cnn if this involves a u.s. service member they'll go through the military court as per the agreement. they will not be tried by the afghan judicial system. wolf? >> this is going to cause a huge, huge rupture in u.s./afghan relations. more sara on this story and i'll speak exclusively with the okay mader of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, the head of the international security assistance force, general john allen. he's in washington at the pentagon. we're moving on to other important news we're following. we're only a day away from crucial primaries in the deep south. rick santorum is hoping he can force gingrich out of the race. even time, mitt romney is doing all he can to court the southern vote. here's jim acosta joins us from

jackson, mississippi, with the latest. jim? >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney might be a yankee but he's pulling out all the stops to lock down the southern vote before the primarieses in mississippi and alabama. >> this is like a sardine can. >> reporter: after days of tells voters in mississippi and alabama about his love of cheesy grits, mitt romney picked up an endorsement that might as well be the good housekeeping field of approval, make that "field and stream." >> i asked him if he can fix it and he did not blink and he said "yes, i can." >> there in a steady downpour in mobile, the man jeff fox worthy. he hosted a game show "are you smarter than a 59 grader" and a contest that he said they might lose. >> do you think this will mean

jobs for small businesses? >> no. >> i'm afraid the president has failed the show. i know he's part of the fifth grader thing but i wonder why he does the things he does. >> reporter: it was romney doing a stand-up routine admitting to fox worthy he's not ready for the cover of "guns and ammo magazine." the lib wal remembers "think progress" came out with a list of why romney might not be a red neck. tom of the list, if your wife drives a couple of cadillacs you might not be a red neck. on romney's 65th birthday his campaign revealed unlike the vast majority of senior citizens who reach the same age, the gop contender decided to forego medicare and stick with his private insurance plan, despite the fact that rom my proposed dramatic changes to medicare and including raising the eligibility age to join the program. but the best birthday gift of all would be to see rick

santorum and newt gingrich split the conservative vote in alabama and mississippi. that scenario has dawned on santorum who is jumping on this when he called the south "an away game." >> we're not focused on one region of the country. i don't consider this an away game. this is home for me just like it is where everywhere i go in this country. >> mitt romney is spending the rest of his 65th birthday in miami. that's a nice place to spend your birthday. not a place to order cheesy grits. i wanted to share with you and we had a chance to catch up with jeff foxworthy here in jackson, mississippi and asked him about romney's invitation to go hunting. he said, that sounds more dangerous than cheney. we may start with a bb gun and work up to a rifle. so the candidates and their surrogates are keeping their sense of humor, wolf. >> keep their putter dry for now

at least. >> every bowl of grits may be important to mitt romney. those deep south races are looking very, very close right now. let's assess with our chief political analyst, gloria borger. look at these american research group polls. in mississippi, gop voters tomorrow, romney, 34. gingrich, 32. next door in alabama, 2k3wr0i67, 34. romney, 31, 24 santorum. 6, paul. so right now it's a tie if you believe these polls. >> i think the races are too close to call and one reason, wolf, is you see rick santorum and newt gingrich splitting the voters they've been splitting throughout this entire process, which is the evangelical voters and that helps mitt romney. and i talked to someone in the romney campaign they believe

what helps them is romney is emphasizing his business experience again. he's going back to the basic message. they believe in the south in particular, which has been hard hit, given the problem with gas prices, this is a message that resonates. and newt gingrich has been talking about getting gas back to $2.50 a gallon but mitt romney seems to be doing better than they anticipated. so we'll have to see what happens. >> if romney wins one or both of these states, for him that would be huge. >> i think it would be huge and what would allow him to do is pull away from the pack. right now he has a big psychological hole in the middle of his campaign. that is, people say, you can't win in the south. that's where the base of the republican party is headquartered. you have to win in the south. if you talk to the campaign, they'll say, even if we come in a close second in these two states we're doing better than we have a right to do so we'll consider that a victory and as you know, the delegates are proportional anyway and they

predict victory in hawaii. >> they'll get delegates and the delegates are kwooe right now because as a popular vote is one thing and he has a significant advantage opt delegate count right now. >> and the romney campaign is spending time talking about math. and talking about inevitability. saying that rick santorum, for example, would have to win 65% of the remaining delegates in order to become the nominee. look at this in "the washington post," abc news poll. they asked who you expect and they asked this of a republican and republican-leaning independents and 74%, 74% say mitt romney. that helps him. a lot of times when you're in the race in the thick of it people decide he want to be with the winner. and if they believe that mitt romney is going to be the nominee, that might sway some people to vote for him so it's becoming part of their campaign

mantra. >> on my blog i write about a lot of romney supporters are already sensing it's theirs to be had. their very, very close and they're thinking about vice-presidential selections maybe because of the movie "game change" and sarah palin. he might want to -- >> we'll see what happens. >> thank you, gloria. drug test at unemployment. one state moves towards a controversial requirement. jack cafferty is coming up next with the cafferty file. and what former president bill clinton thinks of obama and his decision to take out osama bin laden. is that an ace up the sleeves for the democrats. and an man in charge of all u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. general john allen is standing by live. are you guys okay? yeah. ♪ [ man ] i had a great time. thank you, it was really fun. ♪ [ crash ]

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commander of all u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, that's coming up. lots to discuss. other news. women and children allegedly, allegedly targeted in syria, lisa sylvester is monitoring that. some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's going on? >> hi, wolf. syrian opposition groups say at least 45 women and children were massacred in the city of homs late on sunday. they claim children were stabbed to death in front of their mothers and girls and women were sexually assaulted and then shot to death by syrian forces and thugs. opposition leaders have declared an official day of mourning tomorrow. cnn cannot independently confirm reports coming from inside syria. and the worst violence in months is flaring in israel and gaza. police say militants in gaza have fired more than three dozen rocket into israel and more than 200 since frayed. israel has responded with air strikes that have killed at least 23 people, including five today. authorities in indianapolis

are investigating a deadly school bus accident. the driver and a girl of about 5 years old were killed when the bus hit an overpass abuttment. no other vehicles were involved and witnesses say they saw nothing unusual before the wreck. officials say the driver may have had a medical condition that contributed to that accident. and whitney houston's only child is speaking out publicly for the first time about the singer's sudden shocking death last month. 19-year-old bobbi kristina brown, tells oprah winfrey she can still feel her voice and her spirit. here is part of what aired. >> they actually come to you in your dreams? >> you've had that? >> oh, yeah. >> and especially throughout the house. lights turn on and off, i'm like, mom? what are you doing? i can hear a voice in spirit talking to me and telling me, keep moving, baby.

i'm right here. i got you, you know. >> i gotcha. >> that's she said all the time. >> she's always with me. i can always feel her with me. >> is that what your hear in your head? i gotcha? >> that's all i hear. >> yeah, houston died in a beverly hills hotel room on february 11th. no word on the cause of death but a toxicology report is expected next week. i got to tell you, wolf, i watched that interview last night and it was riveting. no question about it. >> i'm sure it was. my heart goes out to that young lady. thank you very much. jack cafferty is here with the cafferty file. >> arizona could become the first state to require drug tests for applicants for unemployment benefits. this was part of the deal when congress agreed last month to extend jobless benefits through the the end of the year. legislation allows states to require drug testing for people who lost their jobs because they failed an employer's drug test for those applying for jobs

where drug testing is common. the arizona state senate passed the bill and it's on the way to the senate and the bill sponsor told the huffington post he would have pushed for the legislation even if congress didn't pave the way. steve smith said the unemployeed is fortunate to live in a country where there are problems to help people survive when their out of work. applicants should at least prove they're of sound mind. supporters say businesses shouldn't have to subsidize illegal activity and suggest workers could increase their chances of getting hired if they prove they're drug-free. critics of drug testing say it's costly and it would cost millions of dollars for the states to administer and the drug test stigmatize them as drugs. and congress left it up to the labor department to determine how many unemployment applicants actually get drug tests. here's the question -- should applicants for jobless benefits

have to pass a drug test? go to cnn.com/cafferty file or go to our facebook page. my interview with u.s. general john allen is coming up. in charge of all u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. we'll get the latest on the alleged civilian massacre by an american soldier and the fallout. bill clinton's surprising first reaction to the death of osama bin laden. for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions... [ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ to help business do more for customers. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us.

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regular afghans. he ended up killing so many and the afghans are furious. now there's a vow of revenge not only from the taliban but others in afghanistan as well. let's discuss what's going on and the ramifications are enormous for the u.s. and its nato partners. joining us in an exclusive interview is u.s. general john allen commanding all u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. the allies international security assistance force as it's called. general, thank you very much. i know you're very busy visiting the pentagon right now. briefly, based on all the information you have and you can share, what happened here? >> well it would appear, wolf, we had a single soldier depart one of our combat outposts and in the district of the province of kandahar and while i won't go into the specifics of his actions, it would appear that he

acted as an individual and did, in fact, shoot a number of afghan civilians causing fatalities as many as 16. a number of others were wounded. providing medical tear to them as well. let me emphasize, first, wolf, that i want to offer my sincere condolences and regrets to the victims of the shooting. to the afghan families and certainly, to the noble afghan people as a group. this is tremendously regrettable. we're investigating it aggressively and we'll hold the individual accountable, should the evidence point to his culpability here. >> general, can you release this individual's name? >> no, not at this time, wolf. >> and the reason being? >> we want to protect the investigation at this point. >> how do you know he acted alone? there are a lot of afghans who

think he was part of a bigger group. >> the evidence at this point, both in terms of observations and reports and interviews, lead us to believe that he acted as an individual at this point. >> was he by himself? this was about a mile from his base. he supposedly left the base, walked for a mile and allegedly started killing these afghans. were there other troops with him or was he by himself? >> again, this is under investigation but it appears these were the actions of a single soldier. >> when you say the investigation is under way, who is taking the lead in the investigation. >> we'll take the lead within my command. >> and will the afghan government have any role in this? as you know there are already calls among afghan parliamentarians and others close to hamid karzai and they want to be in charge not only of the investigation but for them to have the judicial review, if you will, for them to have justice as opposed to having this soldier under u.s. command.

>> we'll certainly keep the afghan government informed throughout this investigation. we'll keep the afghan government informed throughout the process al of adjudicating the outcome. but this individual will be investigated and the outcome will be in accordance with u.s. law. >> what was his job, this sergeant, on a day-to-day basis in afghanistan? i've heard conflicting accounts. >> he was supporting a village staab stability operation providing support to the afghan police and he provided support in the district of kandahar. >> would it be normal for a u.s. soldier to be able to walk off the base by himself and not be detected by others? >> he was detected. in fact, an afghan soldier detected his departure. and reported it. so he was detected and it is --

>> did anyone try to stop him? >> a search party was being put together immediately. there was a head count done among the american soldiers recognized that he was missing. unaccounted for. we put together a search party right away and it was as that search party was forming that we began to have indications of the outcome of his departure. >> i've read reports that he had three previous tours of duty in iraq. this was his first tour of duty in afghanistan. is that true? >> that's correct. >> so is -- was there any evidence looking back, of any mental illness or posttraumatic stress disorder or anything along those lines? >> we're going to look into all of that, wolf, in the course of the investigation. >> what is the initial conclusion that -- you as the commanding officer, the commanding general of all u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan, have drawn from this horrible incident? >> it is, in fact, deeply

regrettable. and we are going to do all we can to do right by the wounded and do right by the families. we're, of course, respecting the three days of mourning. but, wolf, it's really important to understand that the relationship that the american people have and the isaf troops and the 50 nations of isaf with afghanistan is a deep relationship, forged over years and years of combat. there's a lot of resilience in this relationship and we're seeing that today. afghan leaders took charge immediately in the aftermath of this event. and exerted, i think, extraordinary leadership, both in leading the people through the tragedy, but also, in setting the conditions ultimately, for the ability to do a good investigation. and the campaign remains on track. nothing has changed with respect to the campaign and across afghanistan, every single day, afghan soldiers and afghan police and isaf troops are

serving shoulder-to-shoulder in some very difficult situations. and our engagement with them, our shoulder-to-shoulder relationship with them. our conduct of operations with them, every single day, defiance the real relationship. this is an isolated act. tragic as it is, wolf, it is an isolated act. and the relationship will only grow stronger between afghanistan and the u.s. and afghanistan and the international community, and the campaign remains on track, wolf. it remains on track. >> i hear what you're saying but as you know this comes on the heels of the aftermath of a very bloody aftermath of the accidental burning of those korans and we saw what happened. some u.s. troops were working at the ministry of interior in kabul, in afghanistan and they were shot in the back of their heads by afghan soldiers who had been trained by the united states. what kind of message, general, does that send? >> first, wolf, we don't know

specifically who shot those troops. as tragic as that is, we're going to be very careful, obviously, and purposes of force protection in the aftermath of this. but once again, we are close partners with the afghans. and while these kinds of regrettable incidents will occur on both sides, we should look at the overall relationship. we should look at what we're accomplishing every day. we're going to do author row investigations and hold this individual accountable and we're going to move on. and this relationship is too deep. it is been going on too long and we've all sacrificed too much. for us to permit this to be the single event that unhorses this relationship. and i think i can speak for the afghans and i can speak for the isaf and u.s. forces. we remain committed to this relationship and we remain committed to the campaign. >> let me button up one sensitive issue of injury. is there any evidence that this

sergeant that allegedly killed the afghans, himself, had been injured or suffered from some sort of brain injury in earlier tours of duty? >> i can't comment on that, wolf. we'll look at all of this as factors associated in the investigation. >> are u.s. troops, nato troops, american diplomats, others working in afghanistan, now effectively confined to their respective bases out of fear of retaliation? >> no. we're going to continue to be very cautious and very careful. we're going to be attentive to the operational environment around us but we're not confined to our bases and we're not cowering in our homes in afghanistan. we're going to continue to work very closely with our afghan allies and our afghan friends and engage with them. it's very important to understand, that the relationship on the whole, with afghanistan and the united states and afghanistan and the international community, is positive. many good things have occurred over the last ten years. we're pursuing a strategic

partnership with afghanistan on the case of the united states and afghanistan where we're going to push toward a future. it is the future that the afghans desire with the united states. it is a future that the afghans desire with the international community and we desire that as well. and, yes, this is a setback. yes, this is a tragedy. yes, we'll hold an investigation and we'll hold people accountable. but we're going to push on and ensure that this relationship, which is resilient and possesses a lot of shock-absorbensy. >> are you saying an accelerate nad to pullout in afghanistan in advance of the end of 2014 might be something that the president of the united states should take a look at right now? >> we're not contemplating that at all. the campaign is sound. it is solid.

it does not contemplate at this time, any form of accelerated drawdown. >> what would justify such an accelerated drawdown. >> that's not for me to decide. that's for someone else. the operational environment today supports the campaign as we have outlined it. >> how many troops, u.s. troops, nato troops, do you still command in afghanistan? >> it's slightly less than 91,000 at this poi. >> 91,000 american troops or total. >> u.s. troops. and another -- >> how many additional nato. >> hoot 37 or so. 34 or 37, depending on the day. >> and it's your desire at least for now, to maintain that level, more or less with, for some time? >> well, we'll be executing the second phase of the drawdown of the surge recovery. and that will be occurring over the next several months. it's 23,000 troops, 33,000 total. the first 10,000 came out at the

end of 2011 by the 31st of december. and so over the next several months we'll begin to see those lead elements of the 23,000 come out. and those force also come out over the summer and will be completed. the drawdown will be completely the end of september. >> general, good luck to you and all the men and women that you command. our heart goes out to the afghan any families, of course, who are distraught as a result of what happened. we'll stay in close touch with you. appreciate you joining us. >> and our condolences go to them as well. and it is a honor to defend all these men and women and our isaf forces and my best to you. >> thank you, very much, general allen. appreciate it very much. so is president obama already in some political trouble? a brand new poll shows a possible trouble for him and for the democrats. we'll explain. with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard.

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the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. let's get right to our strategy session. joining us, james carville and david frum. guys, look at these "washington post" abc new poll numbers. hypothetical matchup. who would you vote for. this is all americans. romney right now gets 47%. president obama, 46%. look how close it is also, with

santorum, 48% and 45 for santorum sampling a 4%. james, very, very close in march right now. even though the republicans are beating up on each other big-time, look how close this is. how much trouble potentially is the president in his bid for re-election? >> i think this is always going to be a close race. probably attributable to high gas prices in large part. he was four points ahead, he's one down. he's floating around a certain zone. once romney secures the nomination and it's apparent that he gets it but once he acknowledges as a nominee the campaign will get engaged. i don't think anybody suspects that it will be anything other than a close election and to some democrats that were getting overconfident i think this poll has helped. i think it's necessary and healthy for the party. >> in terms of electability on the republican side, it doesn't show a whole lot of difference, david, between santorum or

romney in a hypothetical matchup with the president? >> i wonder about that. romney is a well-known factor. if you said that to the team that say they'd go for santorum. tell me one thank you know about him, i think he would be vulnerable the way romney is not. the president is in trouble not just because of the gas prices -- that may be the last wiggle -- he's in froubl because this has been an unrelenting grind for the american public. for five bad christmass in a row. four hard years. and the pace of recovery is too slow and it's traceable to decisions that the president made and could have made differently had he wanted to. >> you know been there's this new 15-minute documentary that the obama campaign is releasing. very slick, james. in it they've got a nice clip from the former president, your former boss, bill clinton. let me play it for you. >> he took the harder and more honorable path when i saw what had happened, i thought to

myself, i hope that's the call i would have made. >> the road we've traveled. he's talks about the decision the president made to go ahead and kill bin laden. how important do you think president clinton will be in terms of the re-election process? how active or important will he be for president obama's re-election campaign? >> president clinton is possibly the most popular national figure in the country and his testimony helps. bob gates is hardly a democrat and he's said this was the most calls he's gotten in public service. and i think the president made a courageous and difficult decision and i think he's entitled to credit for that decision. i think people will give him that credit. i don't know. that doesn't assure his re-election any more than world war ii to assure churchill got elected. but it certainly was a courageous call and everybody

acknowledges that and it's very appropriate for him to take credit for. >> i think you'll agree and i think it's fair, david, if bill clinton is actively campaigning on a day-to-day basis or several times a week in pennsylvania, ohio, diminish dwan a michigan say it will help the president. >> clinton is popular. one thing republicans can do is avoid relitigating the 1990s. that's one of the reasons that newt gingrich would be such a dangerous candidate. it means you're no longer talking about president obama's record you're now talking about president clinton's record versus newt gingrich's record. who needs to revisit that? with mitt romney who was not a washington figure in those years you can talk about the president's record. on the bin laden killing, tremendous credit to the president. the easy decision would be to drop a big bomb on the compound and we'd never know what happened. he took something very risky. it succeeded so credit. but also remember, we're in a deep commitment in afghanistan

as you were just covering, that the president chose to escalate the war in afghanistan, promising that it would lead to a security benefit and we're 100,000 troops later, we're no better off in afghanistan than we were when president obama made the decision in the spring of 2009. >> afghanistan still very much an opened question. guys, thanks very, very much. young men targeted for killing because of their looks. a wave of very disturbing slayings in iraq. what's going on? we're digging deeper. [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz,

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growing concern about a number of killings in iraq, apparently targeting young men over their appearances. brian todd is working the story. brian, what are you finding out? >> reporter: wolf, disturbing reports about the targeting of gays and other people sporting western clotheses and hair have human rights activists and others asking others about what america's nine-year blood and treasure in iraq has brought. we have to wash viewers this

story contains images some might find disturbing. on the streets of baghdad, this is a very different and dangerous look. a western style with longer hair, tighter clothes. it's called imo. if you're a young man in iraq that wants to look like this, it could get you killed. >> a very strong wave of killing people who are such called, imos or gays. people that look different than the usual wrooirk people. tight jeans, long hair, maybe a goatee. >> we spoke to a human rights activist who didn't want us to use his name or show his face and he says he's not gay or imo but has longer hair, listens to heavy metal music and he said he shaves his goatee out of fear. >> what is the atmosphere in baghdad for people like yourself to walk around? >> when i was coming to cnn bureau here in baghdad, there were two checkpoints who told me to cut my hair unless there

is -- they will kill me with a block of it. not then, they were advising me so people won't kill me with block cement. >> a senior iraqi interior ministry official, not authorized to talk to the media, tells cnn 14 men perceived to be gay or dressed in this style have been killed in baghdad in recent weeks. high man rights activists put the number higher and provide graphic evidence. photos on line show people that are victims because of their appearance. it's not clear exactly who's killing them but activists gave us copies of warning letters and lists like this one, distributed in conservative neighbors, lists identifying potential gay targets and serious questions about whether the iraqi government is able or willing to protect these men. last month, iraq's interior ministry released a statement saying it was following the phenomenon or devil-worshipping and saying we have the approval

to eliminate it as soon as possible and that the so-called "moral police" would enter schools in baghdad. the ministry later issued a statement saying it received no reports of imos being murdered and warned vigilantes from attacking and say those dressed in imo style will be protected. one young man says he's not gay and wears tight jeans and shirts, says he's not taking chances. >> i can do, like the imo thing and the clothes. i can't do that anymore. i'm afraid. i'm afraid i might get killed. >> emo thing. >> contacted by krchlgt nn, a state department says it is monitoring this closely and has expretsed kerp. the state department says, quote, we strongly condemn the resent killings in iraq by groups until killing based on this. spokesman points out that in recent days, iraq parliamentarians and religious leaders including the grand

ayatollah have been have denounced these attacks. >> shocking. stunning new details about the u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians. barbara starr is live at the pentagon with the latest at the top of the hour. ok, guys-- what's next ? chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. ♪

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jack cafferty is back with the cafferty file. the question is, shouapplic for jobless benefits have to pass a drug test? a piece of legislation moving through the arizona legislate is requiring it. pat writes, i had to take a drug test to get my job. why should i pay to fund a slacker's drug habit. larry in houston, it depends on who is paying for it. most employers require it and they have to pay for it. on the other hand, where's the money going to come from to test the unemployeed? bottom line, somebody has to pay for the drug screening. >> for once i agree with the liberal media. this is an excessive intrusion into one's personal life. don't forget employees pay in to the unemployment insurance fund so they ought to have some say in distribution of benefits. metal worker in illinois. no, these benefits feed them,

cloth them and put a roof over their heads. aren't these people being punished enough? another writes -- most employers require drug tests and those that are clean can find work wen eight to 12 week. there's a reason for chronic unemployment and often that's because of drugs. and jerome in kentucky writes, of course not. leave the unemployed alone, for god sake's. drug test congress instead! want to read more about this, go to my blog, cnn.com/cafferty file or on "the situation room"'s facebook page. we're just learning important new information about the soldier suspected of the massacre of 16 afghan civilians. we have new details right at the top of the hour. rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat

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>> this is amazing. the fbi has an estimate on how much money is bet on march madness. why? the fbi is involved because the vast majority of something like 80-plus percent of the money is bet illegally in the country and it's about $2.5 billion. we're talking about serious money. if you're betting in your office pool and i'm not saying that you are, wolf, i would never imply such a thing, i'm saying it's probably illegal. but everyone else is doing it. 2 million people will watch online which adds up to big numbers. people watch online and all these funky screensavers so you can hide the fact that you're wasting time watching march madness and that adds up to $175 million in lost money for businesses in the first two days alone which is a pretty stupendous number, adds up to a billion on april 2nd. and by the way, wolf, i don't know who you bet for your final but i have into the final four, a little send rel la story. southern mississippi, the golden eagle, seymore, i think he'll

get to the final four. >> i have syracuse going all the way. >> oh, i'll knock them out to unc asheville, day one, wolf. >> that's why this is so much fun. go to cnn.com and fill out the brackets there as well. erin, thank you very much. join the cnn group in the ncaa marriage madness. cnn.com/brackets. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, dangerous stakes for u.s. forces in afghanistan right now. after a fellow service member allegedly opened fire on 16 innocent afghan civilians and a deadly door-to-door real page. can, pentagon protect them from agery calls of revenge? and disturbing questions about the suspect's military base. here in the united states, why one officer says that he isn't completely surprised to hear this happened, again, and the federal government now refusing to replace what nature destroyed in those deadly midwest

tornados. just ahead, the desperate pleas for disaster aid denied, at least so far. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news, political he headlines and breaking news with jeanne moos. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." new information on the u.s. army sergeant accused of killing 16 afghan civilians in a vicious massacre prompting heightened security at u.s. military bases throughout afghanistan right now. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. you're getting this new information. what are your learning? >> first up, here at home we've confirmed that this staff sergeant's family, his wife and children, were moved on to the lewis mccord base in washington state over the weekend for their own safety. as for the incident, we have many new details this evening about how it happened.

we're -- we have been able to confirm that the first real evidence the u.s. personnel at the base had that something terrible had happened is when afghans showed up at the gate carrying their casualties in their airlines saying that there had been a shooting. that u.s. personnel were involved. it becomes a little bit of a simultaneous development because they also know from an afghan soldier, that a u.s. soldier had walked away from the outpost. they have the afghans with the casualties and they know somebody has left the base. they immediately, we now know, put up an aircraft overhead to go search to see what they could find. if they could find the soldier or if they could find out what had happened as they were beginning to mount a search party, they found the man and we're told he invoked his right of self-defense and has not spoken about the incident since they took him into custody, wolf. >> and you have new details about this soldier's background,

don't you? >> we do, indeed, wolf. u.s. defense officials are confirming that back around 2010 when he was serving in iraq, he was involved in a vehicle rollover accident. not a combat situation but a vehicle rollover that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of that. was treated and was found fit for duty and that's what led him to another tour in afghanistan. that is not to say that his three tours in iraq. we believe he saw a good deal of combat on those tours. we're told that. but the accident that gave him a traumatic brain injure was not combat related. we've also confirmed that he's a qualified infantry sniper in the u.s. i'm so that means he has qualifications to shoot to kill from 800 to 1,000 meters, wolf. only a few moments ago i spoke exclusively to the commander of all u.s. and nato

forces in afghanistan, general john allen and he us some additional information about the shooter. listen to this. >> he was supporting a village stability platform operation which supports the afghan local police and he was providing support to one of those platforms and the district of kandahar. >> would it be normal for a u.s. soldier to be able to walk off the base by himself and not be detected by others? >> he was detected. in fact, an afghan soldier detected his departure. and reported it. so he was detected and it is -- >> did anyone try to stop him? >> a search party was being put together immediately. a head count was done amongst the american soldiers and they recognized he was missing, unaccounted for and we put together a search party right away and as the search party was forming that was when we began to have indications of the outcome of his departure.

>> i've read report he is had three previous tours of duty in iraq. this was his first tour of duty in afghanistan. is that true? >> that's correct. >> so was there any evidence looking back, of any mental illness or posttraumatic stress disorder or anything along those lines? >> we're going to look into all of that, wolf, in the course of the investigation. >> our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, is looking closer at what's being done to protect u.s. troops on the ground from possible retribution, what are you'll finding out? >> wolf, this is certainly a worry and we know from nato officials that sufficient procedures have been increased across the board for all forces but in some cases it's even more specific. some u.s. troops on certain bases have even started to wear body armor, even in limited cases, on areas of bases where there are afghan counterparts are not allowed to carry

weapons. as angry afghan villagers demand justice remorseful american officials are urging caution. defense officials say there are no plans to change the insurgency strategy in afghanistan. they call the massacre an "slight incident." but when it comes right off soldiers burned korans and marines were shown you're nating on corpses, individual incidents can have a cumulative effect. >> you can see years of work simply collapse in a few seconds when you have incidents take place that breach the trust that's been created. >> marc jacobson, the former director of international affairs for isaf command in kabul. based on his work with general petraeus, he does not expect to see a change in strategy. >> what this may cause is an increase to the mace of the transition. >> it's early but so far the protests have not reached the level of violence after the koran burnings. not to be callous but the afghans are, in some ways, used

to the civilian casualty incidents and tend to respond to it in a more reserved manner than something that seems to be a direct and purposeful afront to the religion and culture. >> reporter: at some smaller base, u.s. troops have put their own extra precautions. having someone guard the barracks on bases where afghan and american troops live together. a defense official says none of these changes are coming from the top military leadership but each command is allowed the authority to take certain precautions if they see fit. for example, in the case of a watch tower where you normally have one american and one afghan soldier, there were some reports that a second american had been added to those watch towers. a defense official i spoke with says he doesn't dispute the any of those and he said it's quite possible that individual commandses have instituted their

own security precautions but he said these individual commanders are given the leeway to do so, wolf. >> general allen, chris, told me that there's still more than 90,000 american troops in afghanistan. and another 30,000 or so nato troops. he said that he doesn't see any accelerated withdrawal. they're supposed to all be out by the end of 2014. so that's, what, almost three more years for those troops to be there. i suspect that the call for an accelerated with drawal will continue. what else are you hear something. >> you have to remember as well, you have this huge meeting coming up in chicago in a couple of months, in may, where a lot of the leadership 06 these nato nations are going to get together to plot the way forward in afghanistan. a lot of pressure could be building on some of those nations internally from their own populations, to either accelerate the pace of their withdrawal or to diminish their activity in afghanistan.

so that's something that the u.s. is going to have to keep a keen eye on going forward. is not only what the general says, but, also, what the partner nations are feeling right now. >> good point, chris lawrence at the pentagon for us. thank you. the deadly massacre is raising new questions about the future of the u.s. mission in afghanistan. putting enormous new political pressure on the president of theites. our white house correspondent dan loathian is working this part of the story. dan? >> wolf, the senate majority leader harry reid put it, this is not a good situation especially because u.s. troops in afghanistan are already under so much pressure. here at the white house, they're still gathering information and one aide told me they're focused on accountability. from inside his car on the way to daughter, sacha's basketball game, president obama spoke by phone this weekend with afghan president, hamid karzai. according to the white house, he expressed, quote, shock and sadness over the reported killing of afghan civilians by a

u.s. soldier. offered condolences and committed to establishing the facts quickly. it was a message repeated by white house spokesman jay carney in a press conference about them withdrawing in 2014. >> this will not impact the timetable of the withdrawal of troops. >> no, it will not. we will continue to work with the afghan government, with afghan forces in the implementation of our strategy. we'll investigate this tragic incident. and make sure that there is accountability. >> reporter: but the latest incident that comes in the wake of the koran burning by u.s. troops, threatens the further strain on already fragile relationship and potentially encager americans as the taliban threatens revenge. >> the president is always concerned about the well being

and welfare of americans stationed overseas, especially in a place like afghanistan. >> the war in afghanistan remains unpopular and abc news "washington post" poll last week shows 60% of americans say it's not worth fighting. that's an increase of six points since the summer. carney pointed to games on the ground including an agreement after more than a year of negotiations, where the u.s. hand over control to afghan officials of a detention center that houses 3,000 people. but open the mooels of the shootings, the administration's policy is coming under increasing pressure and presidential hopefuls are weighing in. >> i think we have to re-assess the entire region. >> rick santorum who had been against a quick withdrawal is now suggesting the timetable be moved up. >> given all of these additional problems, we have to either make the decision to make a full commitment which this president has not done, or we have to

decide to get out and probably, get out sooner. >> white house aides say they are fully committed to the strategy in afghanistan. they're also confident in the relationship and partnership with the afghan government but they also admit that there will be more challenges ahead. wolf? >> what do they say at the white house about the fact that it's still costing u.s. taxpayers, dan, $2 billion a week to maintain that military presence in afghanistan. more than $100 billion a year and this is not just this year, next year, throughout 2014 as well. >> well, first of all, they'll point out that this is an't who early on, had committed to winding down the war in afghanistan and that is what he's doing. pushing to that 2014 withdrawal. they also understand that there's a lot of americans out there who are unhappy as you saw that poll i just showed, who are not happy with the conflict in afghanistan. want to see it come to an end, so that is the strategy they're sticking which the right now, not being moved by this latest

incident. >> a lot of people are not convinced. he just spent another $300 billion when all the dust settles and all u.s. troops are out of afghanistan, it will make much of a difference in any case and that's the big question that we're watching right now. dan loathian, thank you. the u.s. military base in washington state where the alleged shooter is based is also under the microscope right now and we're learning what some call a rogue-base -- because of its history of posttraumatic stress disorder issues. you'll hear from a soldier. that's coming up later this hour. stand by. also, in syria, there have been countless horrors. what's happening now in homs may be the worst yet. details are emerging of a brutal massacre by syrian government forces. also, the obama administration blocks a new voter law in texas. is it looking out for the underprivileged? playing politics? we'll assess what's going on. illinois is reeling from a deadly tornado so why is the federal government refusing to

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here we go again. americans pain at the gas pump could translate to pain at the polls for president obama come november. the national average for gasoline now tops at $3.80 a gallon according to triple-a, gas prices are at or above $4 a gallon in night states and the district of colombia. hawaii, the most expensive. and wyoming the cheapest. history shows that rising gas prices usually wind up hurting the guy in the white house. there's no logic to it it's just the way it works. a new washington post abc new poll shows president obama's

ratings are falling as gas prices rise. the poll shows almost two-thirds of americans say they disapprove of how the president is handling gas prices. that's the lowest rating he gets on any issue in this particular poll. most americans say higher gas prices are already affecting their family's finances. almost half of them say they think gas is going to keep going up. when it comes to the economy, 59% of the americans give the president negative ratings. if gas prices continue up, they could impact the outcome of the election. exit polls last super tuesday show that almost 8 in 10 american voters said rising gas prices were an important factor in how they vote and that's were the summer driving season gets under way. according tory recent gallup poll americans say gas prices of $5.30 to $5.35 a gallon would force major changes in their lives. most americans say they want the president and congress to take action on risetion gas prices. here's the question -- how much

will rising gas prices affect your vote for president? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment or go to "the situation room"'s facebook page. no rhyme or reason for it but somehow the american public, wolf, blames the president when gas gets expensive. they just do. >> that's historically, that's a fundamental fact. they just do. jack, thank you very much. shock and dismay in the besieged syrian city of homs. the disturbing video showing the bodition of at least 45 people killed. witnesses say the torture went on for hours. most were brutally assaulted already being burned, stabbed and shot to death. in total, more than 100 people were reportedly killed across the country. on one day alone, and more 14 are feared dead today as the violence rages on. secretary of state hillary clinton who has been ew meeting with the russian foreign minister in new york city has

urged all nationtion to join in calling for an end to the bloodshed. let's go to arwa damon and she's watching this unfold. you have new information on what happened in the massacre? you're getting it from activists in homs. what are they saying? >> reporter: wolf, according to the syrian observingtory for human rights, the group made up of the government opposition or the pro government thugs, stormed into the homes of a number of family in the neighborhood and these families were, according to the opposition, all -- being a mixed sunni neighborhood and they separated the men from the women. the men were tortured for around two hours. and then they were shot at, some of their corpses were set on fire. this is also based on testimony that is allegedly from a man that claimed he somehow managed to survive.

the women and children were not spared either. there are reports that the children's throats were slit in front of their mothers. women were raped before they, too, were slaughtered and a lot of these images are too horrific to broadcast. the syrian government for its part, is saying this was the work of terrorist armed gangs and saying they quite simply are trying to instigate even more international action by accusing the syrian government of carrying out this atrocity, wolf? >> what is the syrian regime saying about all this? >> well, again, they're blaming these armed terrorists gangs for the violence. and this is been the problem ever since the onset of this uprising as you have incidents like this that take place and then two completely contradictory accounts of what transpired. because the sear i have been government does not allow us access into the country or, rarely allows us access into the country, it's just about

impossible to independently verify what's taking place. but one thing remains undeniable and that is that people continue to die every day and horrific things are happening inside syria and both sides are warning that if some sort of resolution does not take place, the violence is only going to escalate to more unimaginable heights. >> arwa damon watching the situation unfold in beirut. newt gingrich is going all out in the south. banking on alabama and the mississippi in the primaries. will the deep south be a springboard for a comeback or not? and a u.s. drone strike kills an american-born terrorist. did the federal government cross a line by killing one of its own citizens? the attorney general of the united states doesn't think so. stand by. you know when i grow up,

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for the white house are duking it out in the south. the next prize in the battle for the white house is only 24 hours away. and from the looks at the polls right now, we could have another big surprise tomorrow night. cnn senior correspondent joe johns is standing by and he has the latest from birmingham, alabama. what's the latest, joe? >> wolf, nz the alabama theater in birmingham where newt gingrich and rick santorum are expected to appear later this evening. and it's been a wild campaign for both alabama and for mississippi where newt gingrich's once again trying to show that he has the advantage when it comes to southern voters but it hadn't been easy for him or any of the others. the latest poll shows newt gingrich, who already won two southern state primaries running neck-in-neck with mitt nz alabama and mississippi and one big question as voters get ready to go to the polls is whether the former speakers latest ploy, once scoffed at by his rivals is

working. he's been hammering away at gas prices on facebook and twitter claiming his gas proposal is doable with the right white house policies even though most economists say the u.s. president doesn't have the power to control the oil market. gingrich also is railing against the current president's energy policies, with the kind of plain language that gets you points this these parts. >> these people are idealogically committed to a fantasyland. if you read the president's energy speeches he's in clo coocoolands. it just can't work. i concluded that the only way to explain barack obama is a technical term called cognitive disdense which is a psychological behavior when what you believe is so powerful that you reject facts that conflict with your belief system. >> if you want to psychoanalyze this crazy campaign year there's a lot of that believed rejection stuff going around. case in point? listen to rick santorum talking

about gingrich in a radio interview with host kneel bortz. it shows santorum in third place, behind gingrich and romney. >> i understand why he wants to continue. he's got a lot of ideas that he certainly brings a lot to the table. but it's just right now, what he's doing is out there, you know, attacking me and the conservative vote and giving the moderate massachusetts governor an easier, easier role. >> so the question here is why a guy like santorum who says a lot of things southern voters traditionally want to hear and speaking about values and social issues, isn't running stronger. we asked ford o'connell who worked for the re-election campaign of haley barbour. >> gingrich speaks southern. he's comfortable in his own skin. he tells better stories and he's

hammering home gas prices. southerners drive everywhere and gas prices really figure into their householdle budget. >> another issue worth watching as the clock ticks down is how the religious vote breaks out. rick santorum has had trouble winning the catholic vote even though he's a catholic himself. he and newt gingrich share the evangelical vote and as you know, wolf, these two men are competing for some of the same voters so we'll be watching that closely tomorrow, wolf? >> a big day tomorrow in alabama and mississippi. thanks so much, joe johns. and a quick note, tomorrow, mitt romney will join me live right here in "the situation room" during our 5:00 p.m. eastern hour. my interview with mitt romney tomorrow in "the situation room." the justice department in washington is blocking a new law in texas. it would have required all texas voters to show an official photo i.d. which the obama administration says, could lead to discrimination against the

hispanics and other minorities. our senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin is joining us. jeffrey, texas said the law would cut back on voter fraud. do they have a point? shouldn't voters be required to show some sort of government-sponsored i.d.? that's the issue at stake right now. >> what the obama administration says is basically, texas is looking at a cure for which there is no disease. they are saying, there is no major problem. there is not even a minor problem with voter fraud in texas. and just as in south carolina, which the obama administration also stopped, they are saying, this is just an attempt to disenfranchise minority and poor voters who tend to vote democratic. that's the obama administration's argument. >> the governor of texas, rick perry, issued a statement saying doj's denial is another example of the obama administration's continuing and pervasive federal

overreach. so what happens now? who wins in this fight? >> well, this is very likely to go to court. and this is really going to be, perhaps, yet another big case before the united states supreme court this year because many conservatives, many conservative states, especially in the south, argue that the voting rights act of 1965 has outlived it's usefulness. that law says that the federal government has the right to go to these southern states and inspect all of their procedures as they change them and say -- look, not good enough. you're discriminating. and what these states are saying is -- look, that may have been true in 1965. but we have earned the right to be treated by the rest of the country and the justice department doesn't have the power to stop voting changes in the rest of the country. only in these southern states. >> eric holder, the attorney general, gave a major speech at

the north earn university law school last week where he defended the decision to have the u.s. government go ahead and kill an american citizen without full due process if you will, i don't know if you saw the lead editorial in sunday's "new york times," but it was pretty scathing among other things, the judiciary has the power to say what the constitution means and make sure that the elected branches apply it properly. the executive acting in secret as the police, prosecutor, jury, judge and executioner is the antithesis of due process. at issue is the decision by the obama administration months ago to go ahead and kill an warr wa al -- >> technology has changed everything. no would no one would argue that if an american citizen volunteered for the german army during world war ii, the american army would have had to

get a warrant to kill them. if you volunteer with the enemy, it's opened season on you. that's essentially the administration's argument. what "the new york times" is saying and what administration critics are saying is -- look, this is different. it's not just a war where you're firing missiles randomly. you're targeting individuals. you're sentencing individual american citizens to death. and that's different from a war where you are fighting a broad number of people. and if you are going to try to kill an individual person as the obama administration clearly has tried to do, you need to have some procedures in place. some due process. some sort of review before you essentially, execute people by drone. that's the argument here. is it more like a war or is it more like an execution? >> so quickly, this targeted killing issue, sit likely to also wind up before the supreme court? >> actually, not. i don't think so. the president's power is so great when it comes to foreign policy, especially when you're

dealing with military operations overseas. i don't see any way this will wind up in court. this is going to be an interesting debate in newspapers and congress. but at the end of the day, i think obama or whoever the president happens to be, is going to retain this power. >> all right, jeffrey, thank you very much. here's a question, imagine speeding down a highway and having to shift gears to stop the car from accelerating on its own? some four driver say it's happening to them and we're checking into this. and from something like in the movie "jaws." a violent shark feeding frenzy all captured on camera. we have the video and there it is. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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lisa sill ve ster -- lisa sylvester is monitoring the stories in the newsroom. a potentially scary problem for a carmaker. >> federal investigators are looking into reports of ford taurus' accelerating on their own. 14 drivers have complained that they've had to take drastic action to top their cars, even shifting into park. the national highway traffic safety administration is focusing its probe on cruise control cables and some 2005 and 2006 tauruss. venezuelan president, hugh gentleman chavw hugo chavez is recovering from cancer surgery. he says the recent tumor is smaller and the venezuelan government has released few details about the surgery fueling speculation that he might not return to office. a 500--year-old master piece

by leonardo da vinci appears to have been recovered. the mural disappeared in the 16th century but researchers say another artist painted over it preserving the masterpiece. the paint pigment matches the mona lisa but more research is needed to make sure it is, in fact, the plasterpiece joe you may love tuna but probably not as much as the sharks. this is new aerial video of a group of sharks on a vicious feeding frenzy near pert, australia. they were feeding on a school of tuna. swimmers were ordered out of the water for a few hours. fortunately, no reports of injuries. look at them go. that's not a sight you see very often. wolf? >> you don't want to be swimming around there. >> no you don't. >> thank you. other news we're watching including the deadly massacre in

afghanistan, raising new concerns about posttraumatic stress disorder on the alleged shooter's situation. on the base there. up next, why one officer says he's not surprised to hear the shooting happened. also, why the federal government is denying des past pratt pleas for tornado victims. . i think it's a cool car. i think it's stylish and it makes a statement at the same time. and i've never had a car like that. people don't totally understand how the volt works. when the battery runs down the gas engine operates. i don't ever worry about running out of battery power... because it just switches over to my gas engine. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i love my chevy volt and i've never loved a car. ♪

the deadly pass ker in afghanistan is putting a base here in the states in the spotlight and raising new claims about post traumatic stress disorder. we've been looking into this story and we're live from seattle in washington state. what's going on there? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, i'm outside on base lewis mccord near tacoma, washington and there's a lot of concern here. the fact that one of the soldiers at this base is the accused alleged shooter massacre of 16 afghan civilians over the

weekend. a lot of critics of this base say this just adds to the trouble that they've been having here. one actually saying that this is actually a rogue base. a former soldier himself, who now runs a center here that caters to the needs of local soldiers. i'll you some examples, wolf. back in november, a soldier who was based here was convicted of murdering three afghan civilians. cutting off parts of their bodies as souvenirs. ten suicide -- excuse me, a dozen suicide here in 2010 alone. and the army surgeon general has launched an investigation into the alleged improper treatment of soldiers here who claim they have post traumatic stress disorder. some of those soldiers saying they believe the way they were treated was, in a way, to try to save the army money. try to get their conditions considered less serious. now, we spoke earlier this morning with a noncommissioned

officer, a senior noncommissioned officer in the army who is based here and he's also being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder and he's done two tours of duty in iraq and he says when he first told his supervisors that he needed help, that they reacted with skepticism. and it was also very difficult for him to receive treatment. >> the idea that, you know, they just didn't care that, you know, that i'm asking for help, was sort of shocking to me. if it was a physical injury, you know, what they were doing was akin to sticking their finger in the bullet hole and just twisting it. >> are you surprised to hear what you heard about what this one soldier allegedly did over in afghanistan? >> i'm not really completely surprised, no. >> why not? >> i think -- i don't know about his particular case, but i do know that part of the reason

that i raise my hand and asked pore help was because i couldn't envision me getting through another deployment without making some bad decisions. >> now, to be clear, wolf, there's no indication that post traumatic stress disorder played any role in the shooting in afghanistan over the weekend and officials here at the base are not having any comment on any of these issues at this time. we should say that two senior medical officers have recently been transferred just in the last three weeks from their jobs here and replaced. wolf? >> thank you so much, casey, last lots to investigate there. and deadly tornados tear through illinois and when the governor asked for help, fema in washington says -- not so fast. coming up, why it's denying assistance, at least for now. and mitt romney and newt gingrich are fighting it out in the south. literally. the republican war of words continuing over cheesy grits, among other things.

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illinois says it needs help. seven people were killed and dozens injured and hundreds of homes are destroyed or damaged

from a powerful tornado this month. but powerful tornado. fema in washington says they will not provide assistance. what is going on? >> this is hard news for residents of southern illinois. many were depending on the government to help them. this weekend, the state's request was denied. twisters whipped through the midwest tearing up homes. one of the areas hardest hit, harrisburg, illinois. trees dressed in debris, buildings squashed and empty lots where houses stood. seven people died in the small illinois town. >> it's total devastation. i have never seen anything like it. >> what mother nature tore down, the federal government is refusing to help build mack. fema is denying aid to five counties which include harrisburg saying the damage is not severe enough.

craig fugate defended the decision. >> it has to do with the state of a whole, not the proximity of the damage to the other states. when we evaluate the requests, we look at how much was insured. >> illinois governor and senators are among those flabbergasted and outraged. >> i can't believe it. i was there over a week ago and saw it firsthand. i have never seen worse tornado damage. >> access means residents get low interest loans and grants to rebuild. the delegation requested a meeting with fema's administrator and written a letter asking the president to overturn the agency's decision. jay carney says the criteria is the same for all states asking for assistance. >> the same question has the where with all to handle storm recovery on its own.

fema has a lot of regional offices, a lot of presence on the ground in these affected states. the evaluation process continues. >> for these illinois families, adding to the heart break, new headaches as they look to start over. illinois governor pat quinn contacted the department of homeland security and informed janet napolitano they will appeal. it's surprising to know it's not the dollar cost of damage that determines federal aid. it's like the size of the state and the number of people there with insurance. w wolf. >> interesting stuff. thanks very, very much. let's get back to jack for the cafferty file. how much will rising gas prices affect your vote for president? they keep going up. they won't. if a president had a choice,

they would never go above $2 in an election year. >> i saw my first gas line this weekend. it wasn't like the '70s but a long wait for the cheapest gas in the hood. it may affect my vote. don in st. louis, not much. if a candidate is currently in office, i'm voting for someone else. steve writes, it's never one thing, but gas prices are on a long list of items of the list of failures. if i thought the president had control over the gas prices, it might influence my vote. the politicians who say they will bring them back to 1980s prices. i would vote. if you don't have a job or car, the high cost of gas is a moot point. ike in georgia writes, none. if this was the only issue the president faced it would be very important. jobs, wars, u.s. debt,

education, immigration, local economy and my retirement benefits precede gas prices. dan writes, did you forget to mention president obama and members of congress threaten iran on a daily basis? ron writes, hawaii/wyoming conspiracy. is it no coincidence president obama's home state has the highest price while dick cheney's has the lowest. wolf? >> thank you. white house hopefuls in the south gritting and bearing it.

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liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. all right, it's the great grit battle of 2012. >> reporter: candidates down south feel like they have to grit and bear it. >> i like grits. >> i understand grits. >> what is a grit, anyway? >> reporter: they are the latest primaries after romney fell into a pot of grits. >> creamy, perfect grits. >> reporter: all he did was try to joke about grits. >> i'm learning to say y'all. i'm learning to say grits.

>> reporter: if you think that's cheesy, it got cheesier. >> morning y'all. good to be with ya. i got started right with a biscuit and cheesy grits. >> reporter: then gingrich started to stir the pot. unlike one of my competitors, i have had grits before. >> stir it continuously. >> as a georgian, i understand grits. i even understand cheese grits. i understand shrimp and grits, how's that? >> reporter: once the grits were bubbling hot -- >> add a few dashes of hot sauce. >> if you don't understand grits you don't understand the south. >> reporter: if you don't understand them, they are ground corn -- >> i always like butter on mine. or gravy, sometimes tomatetomat. >> the author of gone with the

grits cookbook. >> learn to love them. >> reporter: cousin vinny came south. after one serving of grits, he learned what he needed to cook his add sar on the witness stand. >> how could it take you five minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit eating world 20 minutes. >> reporter: trying to trap mitt with grittiness. and mitt, next time newt mocks you about grits tell him what flo the waitress told her boss in "alice." >> kiss my grits. >> that's it for me. thanks for watching. remember, tomorrow, i'll interview mitt romney here in the "situation room." until then, i'm wolftz